23Apr2018 Market Close: Wall Street Recovers Most Of The Afternoon Losses, 176 Companies In The S and P 500 Will Report Quarterly Earnings This Week, Profit Reporting Are Well Ahead Of Expectations

U.S. extends deadline for Rusal sanctions, aluminum prices dive

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – The United States on Monday gave American customers of Russia’s biggest aluminum producer more time to comply with sanctions, and said it would consider lifting them if United Company Rusal Plc’s major shareholder, Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, ceded control of the company.

EU seeks to join U.S.-China steel dispute at WTO

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union asked on Monday to join a dispute brought by China to the World Trade Organization over U.S. import tariffs on steel and aluminum, just over a week before U.S. President Trump decides whether they should apply to Europe.

Hasbro blames Toys ‘R’ Us for poor first quarter

(Reuters) – Hasbro Inc reported worse than expected results for the first quarter on Monday, blaming the bankruptcy of Toys ‘R’ Us for a slide in revenue but also promising the worst would be over in the first half of 2018.

High-profile investors bet on stocks tied to millennials: Sohn Conference

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge fund managers at the high-profile 2018 Sohn Investment Conference in New York pitched stock ideas on Monday, ranging from online food ordering to homebuilders, that should benefit from the growing clout of the millennial generation.

Wells Fargo CEO’s pay details spark pushback by some employees

WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co’s disclosure of how its chief executive’s pay compares to the rest of its workforce has drawn criticism from some company employees ahead of the scandal-plagued bank’s annual shareholder meeting.

Trump’s revenge: U.S. oil floods Europe, hurting OPEC and Russia

MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) – As OPEC’s efforts to balance the oil market bear fruit, U.S. producers are reaping the benefits – and flooding Europe with a record amount of crude.

U.S. home sales increase strongly; inventory remains tight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. home sales increased for a second straight month in March amid a rebound in activity in the Northeast and Midwest regions, but a dearth of houses on the market and higher prices remain headwinds as the spring selling season kicks off.

Southwest cancels more U.S. flights as it inspects engines

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co canceled more flights on Monday as it worked to complete inspections of engines like the one that failed last week in a deadly accident over Pennsylvania.

Dollar Soars To 3-Month Highs As Bonds Spook Stocks, China Blamed

Don’t worry…. It’s “Contained”…

After some weakness last week, everything was awesome Sunday night when futures gapped higher at the open on North Korean capitulation headlines and then stocks rallied early on, but as rates started to surge up towards 3% (10Y) so stocks started to get spooked… and once they hit unchanged lost all momentum…but of course, dip-buyers were back to save stocks…

In cash markets, Trannies led and thanks to some manic buying the S&P managed to scramble to a 0.006% gain on the day!!!

VIX ETF Has Biggest Inflows In 5 Years As Goldman Sees “End Of Low Vol Regime”

Investors placed more bets on rising volatility last week than in any week since March 2013 (ahead of the market’s ‘taper tantrum’).

As Bloomberg reports, the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN had more than $393 million in inflows last week, as the number of outstanding shares for the note rebounded from a low.

Additionally, two leveraged securities that benefit from increasing stock turbulence also saw inflows, while an ETF that rises with market calm posted outflows.

Add to that the fact that Hedge funds and large speculators hold near record long positions on Cboe Volatility Index futures…

If Yields Can’t Breach 3.0%, What Then?

For the second time in three months, 10Y yields reached just shy of critical level of 3.0%, or 2.996% to be precise, the highest level since 2014, before once again fading most of the move. So with the 3.00% on the cusp of breaching one of two critical trendlines, one bullish and one bearish…

… the question is what happens next: will it blow out above 3.00%, rising to 3.05% first – the highest intraday level since 2011, hit on January 2, 2014 and also the long term double bottom neckline and the long term channel top – and then blast off on the way to 4% or more, or, again unable to breach 3.0%, will the 10Y slump?

One person who expects the 10Y to only accelerate in its selloff if, and when, it blows through 3.00%, is DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach, who last month and again today at the Ira Sohn conference, said he expects the S&P 500 Index to fall this year if yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds move above 3 percent. Gundlach has warned that 10Y yields are likely to climb as deficits increase and the Federal Reserve reduces its balance sheet.

However, judging by today’s market action, it may probe problematic for 10Y yields to breach above 3.00% as a lot o …

Trump Instructs DHS To Block “Caravans” Of Illegals After First Wave Reaches Border

President Trump has instructed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deny reported caravans of asylum-seekers entry into the United States. A caravan of over 1,000 mostly Central American refugees attempted to travel by foot, bus and train to the southern U.S. border in hopes of being granted asylum. After President Trump threatened to cut off foreign aid to “Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen,” Mexico agreed to disband the group.

Despite their efforts, a group of around 50 asylum seekers have made it to the US border, seeking entry at the Tijuana crossing into California.

AT&T’s Defense Invokes Big Tech Terror

In the U.S. government’s lawsuit to block the merger of AT&T with Time Warner, the two companies say the deal needs to be approved for them to survive an onslaught from big tech. Yet, the imminent doom they conjure doesn’t entirely hold up.

Still Waiting for the Tax-Cut Boost

The economy weakened in the first quarter despite stimulus, leaving it unclear how much government stimulus will ramp up growth.

Why The Fun Is Already Fading for Investment Banks

UBS’s first quarter was boosted by strength in its investment-banking division, but activity has already slowed.

March 2018 Headline Existing Home Growth Improved – NOT

Written by Steven Hansen

The headline existing home sales growth “improved” with the authors saying sales “closings in March eked forward despite challenging market conditions in most of the country”. Our analysis shows there was no improvement – and the fact was that home sales drifted into contraction year-over-year.

Hasbro has problems in Europe in addition to Toys ‘R’ Us liquidation woes

Hasbro’s issues went beyond the Toys ‘R’ Us liquidation, with European inventory proving to be a first-quarter problem as well.

FA Center: Take a long look before becoming a short-term stock-market timer

Even the pros are buying at the highs and selling low, writes Mark Hulbert.

Currencies: Dollar rises to 3-month high as 10-year yield flirts with 3%

The greenback rally on Monday, notably against the yen, with a key dollar index ascending to a three-month high as a U.S. benchmark yield was on the cusp of breaking above a psychologically significant level at 3%.